It’s a tricky business picking top food and beverage trends for the New Year. What’s going to stick? What’s not? For the hospitality team at AF & Co., led by Andrew Freeman, making the right predictions means a good year. To assure that outcome, AF & Co. brings together a group of topnotch culinary talent, including people like Carolyn Wente, Tonya Pitts and David Miller, to weigh in on the hottest trends of 2017. Here are few food and beverage trends you can expect to see:

BOWLS AND MORE BOWLS.  Creative vegetarian, grain and noodle bowls, also delicious with meats, are perfect for customizing. Comforting bowls with lemongrass stir fry and organic wild rice, topped with apples, sweet potatoes, chicken, local goat cheese and toasted almonds. Or carrots, spinach, bean sprouts, zucchini, and mushrooms served over rice with protein and topped with an egg.  Buddha Bowls and Poke Bowls. Think True Food Kitchen, Mixed Grain and Tender Greens.

CRAFT BREW AND BARBECUE. Catering to millennials and techies, barbecue is booming in ways we haven’t seen before: layered on fries, tater tots and nachos. New restaurants like Sauced in Walnut Creek, dish it up with a big selection of craft beers on tap. Other local spots for some serious suds are Corner’s Tavern and Calicraft Brewing Company.

CAULIFLOWER IS THE NEW KALE. It’s hard to top the ubiquity of everyone’s favorite leafy green, but cauliflower is right on its heels. Maybe it’s the mild flavor or its comforting, starchy consistency, but we’re devouring this cruciferous vegetable all over the country.

DISH OF THE YEAR: THE BREAKFAST SANDWICH. Eggs are going main stream beyond the breakfast table. They’re showing up on dinner menus at fancy restaurants and on top of burgers, crab cakes and other creative preparations. It’s breakfast all the time with eggs stuffed between waffles, bagels and brioche buns.

INGREDIENT OF THE YEAR: CANNABIS. Marijuana edibles, cannabis cooking, infused cocktails, cannabis wine, oh my! We can expect to see cannabis-cured lox, brown butter sage marshmallows, shrimp stew, deviled eggs, brittle bars, chocolate, and of course brownies on restaurant menus in the near future.

RISE OF VEGGIE KINGDOM. Welcome to the future where veggie burgers taste delicious and look so much like beef that they appear to actually bleed. The popularity of vegetables continues to escalate.  Look for Veggie Grill and Mooyah to lead the veggie burger revolution.

MOCKTAILS. Getting a modern makeover with fresh-pressed juices, flavored teas, sipping vinegars and muddled herbs and spices. It’s a new take on the Shirley Temple and the next incarnation of soda. Sip them at Lemonade and Lark Creek.

NEW ICE CREAM AGE. Maybe it’s the current climate that’s got us seeking new ways to treat ourselves and to indulge in frozen delights.  The new Whole Foods Market on Ygnacio Valley Road is dishing up Mochi ice cream sandwiches from its freezer case. And Mr. Green Bubble and Chalogy recently opened on Locust Street.

SPRINKLES TAKE THE CAKE. From local bakeries to Pinterest boards, the sweets world is exploding with color. Cakes filled with tiny, bright confections are flooding our feeds, and recipes are shared in major news sources. Think rainbow bagels, sprinkle-dusted fairy toast and bright colored cupcakes.

SPICY WILL STILL BE HOT. From fast-food restaurants to ramen and everything in between. Spicy food is increasingly popular, particularly in international cuisines. Don’t expect this trend to cool down.

GLOBAL. Increased demand for chefs to prepare traditional international food—particularly authentic Filipino, Korean and Japanese cuisines—moving away from "Americanizing" dishes.